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Girl Model trailer is unnerving

The trailer for Girl Model is rather unnerving and for that reason I have to say it's been very cleverly constructed. I think that was the effect that was intended, especially considering the quotes that the film has raised, but there's no real content in the film that would make you think things do turn sour, it's just a feeling.

Girl Model is a documentary about just that, a young model discovered in the middle of nowhere who is plucked out from her life and dropped into one filled with promises of fame and contracts.

The blurb for Girl Model is rather extensive; let me pour into it right away:

Despite a lack of obvious similarities between Siberia and Tokyo, a thriving model industry connects these distant regions. Girl Model follows two protagonists involved in this industry: Ashley, a deeply ambivalent model scout who scours the Siberian countryside looking for fresh faces to send to the Japanese market, and one of her discoveries, Nadya, a thirteen year-old plucked from the Siberian countryside and dropped into the center of Tokyo with promises of a profitable career. After Ashley's initial discovery of Nadya, the two rarely meet again, but their stories are inextricably bound. As Nadya's optimism about rescuing her family from their financial difficulties grows, her dreams contrast against Ashley's more jaded outlook about the industry's corrosive influence.

Girl Model is a lyrical exploration of a world defined by glass surfaces and camera lenses, reflecting back differing versions of reality to the young women caught in their scope. As we enter further into this world, it more and more resembles a hall of mirrors, where appearances can't be trusted, perception become distorted, and there is no clear way out. Will Nadya, and the other girls like her, be able to find anyone to help them navigate this maze, or will they follow a path like Ashley's, having learned the tricks of the labyrinth but unable to escape its lure?

From the beginning the audio and the images set you on a slight edge and it that builds as the trailer moves on, and yet there's not really much to make you feel that way other than the audio and that closing comment from Nadya's friend. It's a well executed trailer that does make you feel like this is going somewhere dark.

Girl Model was actually released in Ireland and the UK in February of this year and despite festival releases, a Toronto release in April and a Netherlands release in July, it has taken until now for a US release albeit limited. UK and Ireland audiences can buy the DVD and purchase the film from iTunes.